


Good-Bye, Red

by TimmyJaybird



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 13:37:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimmyJaybird/pseuds/TimmyJaybird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Good-bye,” Ivy whispered, “until I’m out.” Harley forced a smile- fake, sad, the kind that made her face ache.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good-Bye, Red

**Author's Note:**

> I've had some writer's block, so I decided I wanted to do something very short and just kind of sad. I also wanted to branch out a bit form my typical Batman/Joker, and work with another couple I love dearly :)

The thin shoes the asylum had issued her made only the softest of patters on the floor as Harley was dragged down the hallway, her hand clutched tight in that of the Joker’s. He was just a blur as he moved, swift and percise, and she was dragged along, stumbling, barely able to keep her footing. He’d woekn her from her cell, dragged her out, told her it was time to go- they’d played the part of inmates long enough.

Harley knew he could break out whenever he wanted to- he just waited until it suited him best. She hadn’t been entirely sure he would take her with him, though. He didn’t always. He must be planning something though, to have stopped at her cell and wasted precious moments rousing her from sleep.

_Probably needs help with the Bat_ she thought as they rounded the corner. That’s the only reason he’d take her- to get closer to _him_.

He released her hand as he slowed down, body tense as he watched for guards. Harley let him take the lead, get a few feet ahead of her. She looked at all the locked doors, her stomach tightening. She didn’t want to be a part of his next big catch-the-Bat scheme. Didn’t want to see the way those green eyes lit up for the masked man- or have to _hear_ about all the things the Joker wanted to do to Batman.

Sighing, Harley looked down the hall, realized what wing she was in, and knew she couldn’t leave without saying good-bye to someone first. A quick look to her left told her the Joker was preoccupied, sneaking into the nurse’s station, and she turned and headed down the hallway to her right, along the old, stained tile floors.

She counted the doors silently to herself, her lips moving. She knew how many there were from her time working at the asylum, before her fall. Before this painted man took her heart and twisted it, nailed to to the floor. Sometimes, she longed for those days- before it all, before the Joker. Before she even knew what his mouth tasted like.

She stopped at one door, ran her fingers along the metal, then tapped on the small glass window. In the dark, she could just make out a body stirring, deep green eyes opening and looking over, before lighting up. A softly curved body was up in a flash, walking over, and Ivy’s tired face appeared in the glass.

“Harley,” she said, smiling, and Harley gave her a sad smile.

“Hi Red,” she said, “I’m out.”

“I can tell.” Ivy reached up, touched the glass. “He sprung you this time?”

“Yeah,” Harley said, “yeah, must have big plans. Must need me or somethin’.” Ivy nodded, her smile fading a little.

“Be careful out there,” she said, her eyes darkening more, like a deep green pound, something Harley would see surrounded by moss and ferns and little stones she could turn over in her palms and warm under the sun. Suddenly Harley wanted to be in that cell, to know if Ivy’s skin could warm her like the sun- if her mouth felt like rose petals and fresh leaves and the wind.

She choked it all back, forced herself to nod. She pressed her fingers hard against the glass, over Ivy’s, stared into her green eyes- eyes that opened for her, that saw her without her painted face, without her grin. Eyes that saw Harley for Harley- not Harleen or Harley Quinn, but the woman in between that she was, beneath it all.

“Harley!” She jerked her head, saw the Joker at the end of the hallway, glaring at her, tapping his foot. He beckoned her, and she turned back to Ivy, saw those eyes shimmering.

“Good-bye,” Ivy whispered, “until I’m out.” Harley forced a smile- fake, sad, the kind that made her face ache. She only nodded, her throat too tight to speak, and turned, running after the Joker, following at his heels as they manuevered the dark asylum- left the guards that appeared to him, because he was capable without her.

When the cool night air finally caressed her face, Harley realized her cheeks were wet. She reached up, quickly wiped at her tears as they ran through the dew covered grass, towards the fencing, towards freedom. Someday, maybe the asylum would update, would electrify the damn thing, but as it stood long iron bars were easy for the two to scale.

Harley gripped them, looked back at the old building, silhouetted by the velvety sky, and felt her heart sinking. Every time she left, she never knew if she’d be back. Maybe the Joker would get her killed in of his schemes- maybe he’d do it himself, the threat was always there. Someday, it could happen. She wouldn’t wake up to those flickering, sickening lights, to the prospect of those thick red curls and that dazzling smile- one that seemed reserved only for _her_ , of all the people it could be given to.

Someday, she’d wake up and never see Ivy again, and that hurt more than knowing the man she’d given her sanity up for was only using her to get to the man of his twisted dreams.

She twisted her hands around the iron, took a deep breath, and tried to pretend it wouldn’t happen, and that Ivy would get out on her own, or Harley would end up back. But the lie tasted vile on her tongue, so she did the only thing she could think to do- whispered softly into the night, on a breath that would disappear in the wind and never be heard,

“Good-bye, Red.”


End file.
